Jon Stewart Calls Out Bill O’Reilly On “Homophobic” Gaffe Over…Sheriff Andy Taylor?

Let’s start with the facts as we know them. Actor Andy Griffith taped an advertisement aimed to inform the citizens of North Carolina about the benefits of the new health care bill. Some North Carolinians seem outraged (!), which Jon Stewart reported last night on The Daily Show. To provide greater context, Stewart also aired a clip of Bill O’Reilly misreporting on the identity of former girlfriend of Andy Taylor, the iconic 60’s sitcom character that Griffith played. Oh, and O’Reilly sort of joked about the tragic possibility of “Andy” being gay.

In the clip shown by Stewart, O’Reilly states that what really turned the Carolinians agin Griffith was that “Thelma” turned against him, then later incorrectly identifying Thelma as Andy’s girlfriend, when in fact, “Thelma Lou” was the subject of Barney Fife’s affections. (Still with me? Good.) In the same clip, O’Reilly guest Megyn Kelly is surprised to learn that Sheriff Taylor had a girlfriend. O’Reilly jokingly responds “I hope so! I hope it wasn’t just he, Barney and Floyd,” following with a crack about Aunt Bea and a gay wedding. It was meant to be funny, but depending on one’s perspective, it will be seen as either “funny ha ha” or “funny – strange.”

Its an absurdly challenging segment to sum up in a meaningful and pithy way, so just do us both a favor and watch the clip. After watching, maybe you’ll even be moved to post a comment expressing your outrage or support of the participants in the following clip. I know I will.